This blog features observations from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. Send news items or comments to rturner229@hotmail.com

Friday, June 05, 2015

It's time for Mike Landis and Randy Steele to stop whining

As the Joplin Globe and Joplin Progress Committee continue to push their agenda of forcing the selection of new R-8 Board members into the hands of the Jasper County Commission, a new height of nonsense was reached in the page one article in today's newspaper.

Board members Mike Landis and Randy Steele complain that their rights are being violated because the board has not accepted their resignations.

Why, it is almost as if someone has put a scarlet B on their foreheads signifying that they remain board members, as if you could add another level of shame to what the two men have brought on themselves.

Neither has mentioned that they were elected to three-year positions and quit on their supporters and the patrons of the Joplin R-8 School District well before their terms were completed. Steele still had nearly two years to go on his term, while Landis had another 10 months to go.

Steele quit complaining of being harassed by Jim Kimbrough supporters, yet he never provided one bit of evidence to prove that they had done anything except strongly encourage him to support Kimbrough for Lane Roberts' vacant board seat.

Landis quit because he was not getting his way.

And now they are both whining about their resignations not being accepted.

When the taxpayers began questioning the decisions the board has been making for the past few years and sent board presidents Jeff Flowers and Anne Sharp packing the past two years, electing four board members they hoped could bring change- Debbie Fort, Jeff Koch, Jennifer Martucci, and Lynda Banwart- and electing a man who said he would not be able to serve just to get Sharp off the board, it sent the message that the times were changing.

Neither Steele nor Landis heard the message. Both expressed sentiments that what the voters wanted did not matter. Landis made his locally famous "Elections don't matter" quote and then made a show of pushing aside the notarized petitions delivered by Kimbrough in his effort to be appointed as the replacement for Lane Roberts.

Steele made a point of saying that taxpayers coming to the Board of Education meeting and saying they wanted Fort as board president did not make any difference to him.

And Landis has made a point of saying that he wants the Jasper County Commission, not the voters he claims to have been representing for the past 14 years, to have the final say in who replaces him and Steele. He would rather have two people who are not even from Joplin making the decision on who sits on the board instead of the people who were elected. From Landis' viewpoint, if the people chose candidates he did not want, then the people lose their right to have any say in what goes on in the school district.

And the Joplin Globe has pushed this agenda, as well. Just as two years ago, the newspaper tried to sell the idea that there was a voting bloc on the City Council that was damaging the city, it is now pushing the notion that three board members who were elected to bring about change, Fort, Koch, and Martucci, are standing in the way of progress- progress as defined by the only other remaining participating board member, Lynda Banwart, and of course, the Joplin Progress Committee.

The situations are remarkably similar. The so-called voting bloc was five members of the City Council, the majority, just as the voting bloc the Globe is trying to rally its readers against now is three of the four board members.

In both cases, the Globe is carrying the water for the unelected leading citizens of Joplin (many of whom do not live in the city), those who think they are the only ones who know what is right for the city and the school district.

In today's page one article, the Globe devoted more space to trying to get the selection shifted to the County Commission than it has given to all of the problems surrounding C. J. Huff. Thankfully, as I have noted before, Joplin R-8 taxpayers do not have to rely on the Joplin Globe to know what is going on.

The most telling quote in the article came from Landis:

I knew exactly what I was doing when I resigned, knowing it would go to the County Commission.

It was a last obscene gesture aimed at a voting public which decided to make up its own mind instead of being swayed by money and power and the idea that a few privileged people know what is best for the rest of us.

25 comments:

Anonymous
said...

We are getting ready to purchase a tornado shelter. Guess where we are not getting it from? Sorry, Atlas, I won't give this man a dime. He's a manipulative and dishonest cretin who would sacrifice the education of all children in the district just to prove he's the man. It ain't working, Mikey.

As I recall, this ploy won't work because it is a violation of the district's policy. You would think they would know that, since they probably wrote it.

Nice try, but you come off as vindictive jerks. Give the people what they wanted when they had their fair and democratic election. Stop trying to destroy the district and act like reasonable, respectable adults. Especially that one who claims to be a man of Christ. He isn't coming off that way at the moment.

"I knew exactly what I was doing when I resigned"...I bet you knew exactly what was going on the last seven years, too, and now you don't want to be held accountable when we can finally get someone in there to look at what has really been done with the money. Maybe this would be a really good time for the former Board members to decide to move to another town. In another country, preferably. You have ruined our school district and blame the patrons and the people they elected for not being happy for your shoddy performance.

There is no "bloc" of voters. There are three elected officials doing what the public voted them in to do. The "bloc" comes from the JPC side, wanting to stop the elected officials of the people's choosing from doing the business of the district.

The Globe is good for nothing but starting fires. The paper, that is, not the building. Don't want to start any histrionics.

Steele and Landis are very much like little children who cry and go home if they don't win the game. They are very immature. This is additional evidence that they did not have the mettle to be making wise decisions for the school district. The state audit also confirmed suspicions that the board made unwise decisions. The district will be better off without them. Mrs Banwart is showing vindictiveness for refusing to cooperate with Mr Koch, Dr Fort and Mrs Martucci. When they agreed with her earlier nomination of Mrs Archer, Banwart no longer wanted Mrs Archer! Isn't Mrs Banwart the member who is refusing to work with the others? If this is the way she runs the family medical business, that is scary!

If the "3" are so willing to work with anyone then let the commissioners appoint members and get to work. After 3 meeting and they can't pick a member then move on, get new members appointed and get to work.

I think we need a new audit, not sure how accurate the last one was the person that performed it and his assistant are no longer alive. I think they are trying to hide something at this point, it is the only thing that makes much since. I do not think the old boe was spending our tax dollars the way they should have and is why there bailing out.

They are at work. Check the board agenda. There's more than the televised meetings going on.They voted archer on, banwart voted no. The board was 3-3 if you get technical. Until landis and steele left. Now it's the "3" you criticize ?Short term memory problems? Using the globe to get your information?

Absolutely, pot meet kettle. Glad someone said it. This whole blog consists of whining. The three are just as much to blame for this situation. If they are really going to set a new standard then let the process take place rather than try to skirt around the state statute. It looks shady and shows they don't have the aptitude to resolve any issue. It also continues to cause a huge issue in hiring anyone to take this wrecked position. Who in the world would want this position, eee specially when they see the remaining members are attempting to not follow the law?!?!??

President Koch needs to make a very public recommendation of new R8 BOE members to the County Commision. If it is a fair recommendation of Kimbrough, Dermott and one other possibly letingt the commisioners select the third. If they dont accept the current boards recommendation then new commisioners will be reelected shortly after. The Commisioners dont want to get dragged into this mess.

Landis indirectly blamed Fort, Koch and Martucci for his resignation from the BOE, "During the past year, it has become increasingly obvious to me that the board is turning in a direction that I feel is not in the best interest of kids or Joplin Schools. Political agendas have taken the place of what the focus of the board should b, which is setting policy for the school district." Mike Landis, May 28, 2015. Now it appears that the real reason behind the resignation is his own personal and political agenda, "I knew exactly what I was doing when I resigned, knowing it would go to the County Commission," Landis said. Mike Landis, June 5, 2015.

Did the JPC and CART hatch this scheme when they were checked by the voters in April? The voters outplayed us and we can't get our majority of four on the board plus Landis and Steele are losing public support; lets get the County Commissioners involved and they can appoint our selections. The game doesn't end on June 30th and the JPC and CART are still trying to protect their King.

Be vigilant Joplin R8 voters and keep the pressure on. it's not just about the Jasper County side of the district either; Newton County voters are still in the game, they may not vote for the JCC but they probably spend their money at County businesses. We all may have to rethink where we shop, buy gas and dine out. Hey elected officials, you represent us the voters and we won't forget.

Anyone know how many people the Jasper County Commisioners have appointed to boards in the last year or so? How many of those were appointed after a recommendation from the place they were going to serve?

About Me

I am a former teacher in the Joplin and Diamond, Missouri, school districts. Before entering the teaching field, I spent 22 years as a reporter and editor for various Southwest Missouri newspapers. I have published three novels, Small Town News, Devil's Messenger, and No Child Left Alive, and seven non-fiction books, The Turner Report, Newspaper Days, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption, and the Joplin Tornado, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Scars from the Tornado and Let Teachers Teach.

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